SMARTPHONE SPECIAL ....The race to bezel-less

The race to bezel-less

Smartphones with near-borderless display are fast gaining popularity

The new trend of edge-to-edge display is not just restricted to the premium segment. In fact, most of the recently launched budget smartphones boast of a bezel-less screen. The users are a happy lot. The shrinking of bezels increases the size of the screen, giving more real estate in the same form factor. The high screen-to-body ratio makes the experience of multimedia consumption a pleasure. But there are certain concerns about the durability of bezel-less devices – how many times your phone can withstand accidental drops. Users with fidgety hands would need a sturdy phone case.

BEST CHOICES UNDER ₹ 35,000

If you are planning to buy one without burning a hole in your pocket, here are some options:

GOOD STORAGE

Vivo V7+: 

The phone comes with a 5.99-inch display with Gorilla Glass 3 protection. The USP of the phone is its 24MP front facing camera. It runs on Qualcomm’s 450 octa-core processor coupled with 4GB of RAM. It comes with 64GB of built-in storage that can be expanded up to 256GB via a microSD card. The Vivo V7+ runs Android 7.1 and is powered by a 3225mAh non removable battery.

Price: ₹21,990

A VIBRANT ONE

OnePlus 5T: 

It comes with almost the same set of specifications as its predecessor OnePlus 5, but has an upgraded screen and camera system. It has a vibrant 6-inch AMOLED 1080p (full-HD+) display with Corning Gorilla Glass 5 on top. It has top-of-the-line specs; Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 SOC, 6GB or 8GB RAM, Adreno 540 GPU, 64GB, 16MP + 20MP rear camera, 16MP front camera, and 3,330mAh battery with support for fast charging.

Price starts at ₹32,999

HONOUR-WORTHY

The Honor 9i 

comes with a 5.9-inch ‘FullView’ display. It is powered by 1.7GHz octa-core HiSilicon Kirin 659 processor and comes with 4GB of RAM. On the camera front, it has 16MP + 2MP Dual Rear Camera and 13MP + 2MP Dual Front Camera. The Huawei Honor 9i runs Android 7.0 and is powered by a 3340mAh non removable battery. You can also look at Huawei's newly- launched Honor 7x starting at ₹12,999.

Price: ₹17,999

POCKET-FRIENDLY

LG Q6: 

It is one of the first smartphones to launch with a near borderless display in the budget segment. The smartphone comes with a 5.5-inch full HD display. It is powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon 435 processor coupled with 3GB of RAM. But it doesn’t house a fingerprint scanner and the camera performance is below par.

Price: ₹13,999

WORTH A BIT EXTRA

Xiaomi Mi MIX 2 

breaches our ₹ 35,000 cut-off mark by a whisker. But this stunner is worth the few extra bucks. The phone has a 5.99-inch display with an impressive 91.3% screen-to-body ratio and a ceramic body. It’s powered by octa-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 processor and comes with 6GB of RAM. The phone packs 128GB of internal storage and houses a 12MP primary camera on the rear and a 5MP front shooter for selfies. The smartphone is powered by a 3,400mAh battery.

Price: ₹35,999

Dheeraj.Jangra@timesgroup.com